Nevada Farm Bureau
Nevada Board Of Ag Approves Amendment Proposals For SB 54 In their January 19th meeting the Nevada Board of Agriculture heard input from participants who expressed opposition to the changes being sought by the Nevada Department of Agriculture to eliminate positions on the Board of Directors for representatives who are cattle producers and sheep producers as they spelled out in their pre-filed legislation, SB 54.
NFB stated, “We are opposed to the way in which this legislation was brought forward and we are opposed to the proposal to remove representatives of the cattle sector and the sheep industry, lumping the two remaining seats into the category of ‘livestock.’” The question over the process, raised by Farm Bureau, ties back to the authority and responsibility of the Board of Agriculture. Without the Board having an opportunity to evaluate the legislation that the Department of Agriculture pre-filed, contrary to state law until after the legislation was already introduced.
“In our view,” Nevada Fam Bureau said, referring to the first three subsections of the state law (NRS 561.105), …“we maintain that no bills, introduced by the Department of Agriculture should have advanced into the legislative process without a full public vetting, by this Board, to determine what was intended and whether they were appropriate.” After hearing from those who participated in the allotted public comment period, Board members each shared their views on the proposed actions in the Department’s remake of the membership criteria for the Board. A consensus view emerging from these discussions was that removing the cattle and sheep producers from the Board was not something that would have any support. Further, a number of members expressed their belief that their role should include review of regulations related to programs operating within the Department of Agriculture and other decisions that they have been excluded from over the past couple of years. In the final outcome the Board approved a proposal for several amendments to come from the Board, keeping the current positions and adding two additional seats for the qualifications that the Department has proposed, clarifying some other language in the pre-filed bill for row crops and proposing to change the present limitation of two members coming from a single county to allow for three.
FEBRUARY 2021 N E W S U P D AT E Media Contact | Doug Busselman | doug@nvfb.org
Participate In February 4 Virtual Workshop For Humboldt River Modeling The Division of Water Resources will be holding their annual update for the Humboldt River corridor modeling in a virtual workshop on Thursday, February 4. Here is the url with all the information: https://files.constantcontact.com/ ce74815a701/4cfd6ca8-a3cb-4aa3-b9e0-139d97704a92.pdf The session that begins at 8:30 a.m. will cover the modeling work has been carried out in the three segments of the river system by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Desert Research Institute. The significances of the information of the modeling has taken on a new dynamic since a proposed Interim Order that just was released: http://water.nv.gov/documents/Notice%20and%20Proposed%20 Order%20Humboldt%20River%20Region.pdf The Notice for the Hearing on the Proposed Interim Order within the Humboldt River Region includes the alert that a public hearing will be held on Friday, April 2, 2021. It also provides the Draft Interim Order that we would strongly encourage a careful review. Starting on Page 7 of the Draft Interim Order the ramifications of how the capture model will be used for Applications for New Groundwater Appropriations, Applications to Change Existing Groundwater Appropriations and Addressing Future Conflicts Between Existing Valid Groundwater Rights and Decreed Humboldt River Surface Water Rights.
New Hemp Rules Announced By USDA The January 19, 2021 Federal Register carried the final rule from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for hemp production. This new rule takes effect on March 22 and has been based on an update put together from public input. This link offers a condensed, but very comprehensive over-view of the hemp regulations and program operations that are being brought forward: https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/hemp The Nevada Department of Agriculture’s regulations tier to the USDA regulations and the plan that Nevada’s Department of Agriculture submits for consideration by USDA need to fit within the provisions of the national requirements. Of the changes in the operations that we’ve noticed and are highlighted in the link to the hemp regulations also point it out – the past/current 15-day window for collecting samples to test, ahead of harvest, and make certain that the crop is below 0.3 percent THC (tetrahydrocannabinol ) content has been extended to 30 days. 32 FEBRUARY 2021
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